Coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines



A. M. CRAMER Sept. 1, 1931.

COIN MECHANISM FOR COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINES Filed Nov. '7, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVENTOR 1 ATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1931.

A. M. GRAMER COIN MECHANISM FOR COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINES Filed Nov. '7. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR m l W sephl, 1931.v CRAMER 1;821,739

COIN MECHANISM FOR COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINES Filed Nov. 7, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR:

ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 1, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT M. CEAMER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNsY vA IA, ASSIGNOR TO HORN AND HAREAR'r BAKING coMPANY, or

TION on NEW JERSEY P IL EELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- coIN MEcHANISM EOE coIN CONTROLLED vENnING CHINES Application filed November 7, 1927. Serial, No. 231,562.

The object'of this invention is to devise,

a novel coin mechanism which has been designed more particularly for use 1110011111110 tion with a coin controlled hqiud vendlng (a machine although it is adapted to be employed in conjunction with many other types of vending machines irrespective of the character of the article which is to be vended.-

A further object of this invention is to device novel means to accurately align acoin wheel having coin receiving slots so that a coin receiving slot will properly register with the coin chute. r

A further object is to-devise a novel coin mechanism havinga: coin'wheel with coin receiving slots and novel means to actuate said coin wheel and to efiect the opening of a movable side of the coin chute to cause a coin arrested therein to returninto a position accessible to the intendingpurchaser.

A further object is to provide novel cushion mechanism. 7

With the above and other objects in view as will hereinafter more clearly appear, my invention comprehends a novel coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines.

It further comprehends a novel coin'wheel and novel means for actuating it.

It further comprehends novel means'for accurately aligning a coin receiving slot in the coin wheel with the coin chute in case the coin wheel should over-run or under-run.

It further comprehends novel means for opening a movable side of the coin chute when the coin mechanism is actuated.

It further comprehends novel cushioning mechanism. I

Other novel features of construction and advantage will hereinafter appear'in the detailed description and the appended claims. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,-1 have shown in the accompanying drawings, atypical embodiment of it, which,

' in practice will give satisfactory and reliable results. It is, however, to be understood that this embodiment is typical only and that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized, and the invention is not, therefore, limited :to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein set forth. I

Figure l is a front elevation of a coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Figure 3 is a top plan view.

Figure 4: is a side elevation showing the side opposite to that seen in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a top plan View of the coin wheel in detached position.

Figure 6 is a section on line 66 of Figure 5. i

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings 1 designates the frame of a coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines, embodying my invention, and the construction and arrangement may vary widely in practice. .The framecarries at its upper ends the brackets 2 which may serve as a support/for the container for theliquid or articles which are to be vended.

' The frame has'a shaft 3 suitably ournalled in it, and on this shaft is fixedly secured the hub 4 of the disc 5 of the coin wheel. The disc 5 is'provided in its periphery with a desired number of coin receiving slots 6 which are angularly disposed. The disc 5 is recessed to provide an-annular recess 7 which opens throughthe side of the disc and also through its outer periphery. The coin wheel has a disc 8 loosely mounted on the shaft 3 and this disc 8 has securedto one "side by means of fastening devices 9, a segment 10 which is an actuating arm 17 having a grasping han dle 18.

19 designates the coin chute having a coin receiving slot 20 accessible to the intending purchaser. The coin chute 19 has pivoted to it a movable side 21 which is normally retained in its closed position by means of a spring 22. The movable side 21 is provided with an extension 23 which is adapted to be contacted with by the attendant when it is desired to manually open the movable side 21. This movable side 21 is provided with a pin 24 which extends into the path of a cam 25 on the side of the disc 8, so that when the disc is partially revolved the movable side 21 of the coin chute will be opened.

The shaft 3 has fixed to it an aligning member 26 in the form of a wheel having recesses 27 in its peripherywhich correspond in number to the number of coin receiving slots in the coin wheel. These recesses 27 are curved and merge into rounded knobs 28.

29 designates a plunger which is guided in a bracket 30 fixed to the machine frame 1 in any desired manner and retained in position by means of the plates 31 and the fastening devices 32. The upper end of the plunger 29 is bifurcated to'receive a roller 33 which is loosely mounted on a pin 34. The bracket 30 has in threaded engagement with it an adjustable screw 35, the lower end of which is adapted to receive a wrench, and this adjusting screw extends through the lower arm 36 of the bracket 30 and bears against a spring 37 interposed between the plunger 39 and thearm 36, and this spring encircles a rod 38 fixed to the plunger 29. l The adjusting screw 35 is provided with a lock nut 39. The shaft 16 has connected with it an arm 40 to which is connected a chain 41, said chain being connected to a spring which is secured to a fixed portion of the frame 1 as at 43 so that the tendency of the spring 42 is to normally retain the disc 8 in its normal or initial position. The shaft 3 is' operatively connected with the mechanism to be controlled and, as illustrated, it has fixed to it a gear 44 which effects the operation of the mechanism which is controlled by the coin mechanism herein described.

The coin mechanism herein shown although not limited to such use, has been especially designed to control the vending of liquids, and the gear 44 is operatively connected with a liquid measuring device of any conventional type and I there-fore have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate and describe in detail the mechanism controlled by the shaft 3 since this coin mechanism, as herein discussed, is adapted tolcontrol any desired mechanism, which in a vending machine would be an article conveyoror meansfor dispensing liquid.

A coin which has been effective to operate the machine passes into a discharge chute 45 which leads to a money box, not shown. If a coin has been arrested in the coin chute 19,

it will, when the movable side 21 is opened, pass into the coin return chute 46 which will return such coin into a position accessible to the intending purchaser.

The operation will now be apparent to those skilled in this art and is as follows A coin of the proper denomination for which the machine has been adjusted will, when inserted by the intending purchaser in the coin slot 20, pass through the coin chute 19 and will be received in a slot 6 in the coin wheel. The purchaser now turns the handle 17 in a clockwise direction, and since the shafts 16 to which the handle 17 is connected is provided with a gear 15 which meshes with the gear 12, the disc 8 will be partially revolved, it being understood that this rocking movement of the disc 8 to which the gear 12 is connected is resisted by the return spring 42, see Figure 1.

The disc 8, as explained, carries the coin contactor 10 which revolves with it so that during such partial revolution it will contact with a coin in a coin receiving slot 6, so that the disc 5 in which the coin receiving slot 6 is situated will be partially revolved. This disc 5 is fixed to the shaft 3 and therefore the shaft 3 is partially revolved causing the partial revolution of the gear 4, fixed to the shaft 3, and thereby the mechanism which is controlled by said gear 44.

There is a tendency in a device of this character for the shaft 3 to either over-run or under-run, due to the purchasers failure to move the handle 17 a proper distance, and to overcome any over-running or under-running of the shaft 3, I provide a detent and aligning mechanism in the form of a cam wheel fixed to the shaft 3, and the rotation of this wheel and also of the shaft is resisted by the spring 37 which resiliently retains the roller 34 in engagement with the periphery of the cam wheel 27;

When a coin receiving slot 6 is in register with the discharge end of the coin chute 19, the roller 34 and the cam wheel 26 are in the position seen in Figure 2, the roller being received in a recess 27. In order to turn the shaft 3 the wheel must ride over the roller. The cam portion 28 offering a resistance to such action and the curved recesses 27 serving to accurately stop the shaft 3 in such position that one of the coin receiving slots 6 will register with the discharge end of the coin chute.

If a coin of improper dimensions or denomination has been inserted into the coin chute 19 and is arrested therein, it will be apparent that when the disc 8 is revolved the cam 25 acting on the pin 24 will cause the movable side 21 of the coin chute to be opened, and any coin or coins arrested there in will be dropped into the coin return chute 46 and will be returned into a position accessible to the intending purchaser. The spring 42 serves to return the handle 18 to its initial position after it has been actuated and released by the intending purchaser.

It will be apparent that after the machine is actuated a coin in a coin receiving slot 6, will, on the revolution of the disc 5, be discharged into the coin chute 46 which leads to a money box within the vending machine.

I have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate and describe the vending mechanism controlled by the gear 4% since this can be of. any desired character so that a step by step actuation of valves to control the dispensing of one or more liquids.

Machines of this character are subject to severe usage in their commercial operation, and the present machine has been designed in such a manner that it is durable and reliable in practice and it is practically foolproof in operation.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a new and useful coin mechanism for vending machines which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have, in the present instance, shown and described a preferred embodiment thereof which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood, however, that this embodiment is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let 'ters Patent, is':

1. Coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines, comprising a framework,

a shaft journalled therein, a coin wheel disc fixed to said shaft and having coin receiving slots which open through the periphery and one side'of the disc, a second disc loosely mounted on said shaft in proximity to said coin wheel disc and closing the open sides of said slots, and having means tocontact with a coin in a coin receiving slot, a cam wheel on said shaft having at its periphery rounded knobs which merge into curved recesses conforming in number to the number of coin receiving slots, a member having a roller conforming to the periphery of the recesses and movable in a rectilinear path towards said cam wheel, a spring to cause the forward movement of said member, manually actuated means to turn said second disc, and

resilient means to return said second disc to its neutral position after it has been operated.

2. Coin mechanism for coin controlled vending machines, comprising a coin chute,

carried by said plungerand adapted to seat in said recesses to prevent the overrunning or,

underrunning of said shaft and return it to a neutral position, and means to manually actuate said shaft.

ALBERT M. CRAMER.

shaft and having a disc with slots opening 7 through its periphery and one side and adapt- 

